The Maui News
Airline food workers at Kahului and Daniel K. Inouye airports who prepare, pack and deliver food and beverages for three airlines voted unanimously earlier this week to go on strike over wages and health benefits, their union Unite Here Local 5 said Thursday.
The workers, which include 52 based at Kahului Airport, are employed by Gate Gourmet, the second largest airline catering subcontractor in the U.S. They prepare the food and beverages for departing American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines flights, the union said.
Negotiations are ongoing but “have failed to secure offers to improve wages and health care benefits for airline catering workers,” the union said.
Eric Gill, financial secretary-treasurer of Unite Here Local 5, said that the median wage, the middle number in a series, of a Gate Gourmet worker in Hawaii is $12.25 an hour.
Thien Hoang, who works on Oahu, says he has worked for Gate Gourmet for 26 years but was still making less than $16 an hour.
“One job should be enough to live in Hawaii,” he said in the news release. “I am taking action for my family and for my co-workers so we can have a better life.”
The workers cannot strike until granted a release by the National Mediation Board. The union planned to make that filing later in the summer, which would be followed by a 30-day cooling off period if granted.
The union said it is prepared to strike “whenever it becomes lawful.”
Workers will begin informational pickets on July 3 and “will not stop work until authorized by the government,” the union said.
The strike votes in Honolulu and Kahului were part of the largest such vote ever in the U.S. airline catering industry, with thousands of workers voting in 21 cities, the union said.
In a statement Thursday, Gate Gourmet said that it “continues to work in good faith with the union and federally appointed mediator to make improvements for our people across wages and benefits as we have in the past.”
The company said its “goal is to reach a new agreement as quickly as possible” but that “the negotiations process can be lengthy.” In the meantime, the company continues to operate without disruption under the Railway Labor Act.
hich preserves the current terms and conditions of our existing National Master Agreement labor contract and prevents operational disruptions.”
Local 5 represents about 11,000 workers throughout Hawaii, who work in the hospitality, health care and food service industries, and is an affiliate of Unite Here, an international union that represents more than 250,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada.
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